


Two Roads Diverged

by AndEverAmen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Child Abuse, Destiny is bigger than they think, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fate & Destiny, Goes AU in s02e17, I play fast and loose with Avatarverse canon, I'm a purist, I've never seen LoK nor read the comics, If it's not in ATLA then it's fair game, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Mid-Season 02 AU, No Smut, Not Canon Compliant, Not sure how deep the romance will be yet, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Past Child Abuse, Post-Season/Series 02 AU, Screw Destiny, Spirits, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, The Spirits Have Plans, Until I'm not, Work In Progress, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, or maybe not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29720862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndEverAmen/pseuds/AndEverAmen
Summary: In which Iroh informs Zuko of his genealogy under Lake Laogai in s02e17 instead of s03e06, and that little change changes everything.Or, the Great Spirits interfere behind the scenes, and it shakes up canon.AU starting late season 2 (and a little bit all around, to be honest). This is a WIP.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong, Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story comes from an idea that's been bouncing around in my head for a while now. Full disclosure: I've only watched s01 of LoK and didn't care much for it. I pretty much ignore all canon beyond the A:tLA TV show. In this particular story, I play fast and loose with *all* canon because I can. Also, I don't write smut. Whatever romance there will be will be of the fade-to-black/implied kind.

Deep in the Spirit World, where mortals and once-mortals dared not go and even spirits in general were scarce, stood an old, old forest of tall, broad trees whose branches and roots were so intertwined that one could not tell where one tree ended and another began. In the very center of that forest was a small meadow filled with wildflowers and tall grasses that often rippled like waves of the sea under the unseen wind. In the very center of that meadow stood stones, uncarved yet carefully placed like pillars in a palace, all ringed in a circle. At the very center of that circle there was a pool of fresh, clear water that seemed to have no bottom. And in the very center of that pool burned a flame, eternally flickering and dancing over the water.

Equidistant from each other around the pool, between the stone pillars, were four stone seats like thrones. In each seat sat a spirit – an ancient spirit, almost as old as the universe itself. Each spirit flickered and shifted between a mortal form and its own spiritual essence, flashing back and forth and fully committing to neither.

They did not always gather here; often, the Great Spirits were in the Mortal World or moving through the Spirit World attending to their business, separate from one another. Yet, at times, they gathered by unspoken agreement. No formal summons was sent, and there were no set times for meeting, yet they all knew when to appear before the others at the sacred circle, as they were now.

Each of their stone seats was connected to a point in the Mortal World, and from their seats they could speak to and influence mortals who came near their sacred mortal spaces. They did not often interact with mortals face-to-face but rather through their bridge-seats, and even then usually only once a mortal generation or less.

Each spirit had many names given them by many different spirits and peoples in both worlds, but they each had a name most known by which they went and saw themselves.

Agni, the great fire spirit, sat in his throne-seat, warmth and life radiating from him like the flame he was, shifting from fire to sun dragon to spirit and back again, other forms flickering in and out at unpredictable intervals.

To his left was Rangzen, the wind itself, patron of the air element. He swirled in his seat, and flashes of his various manifestations (the great sky bison his best-known) swirled with him.

Across from Agni sat Tui and La, the two unique among the Great Spirits in that their seat was not singular but divided. They swayed in their space, pushing and pulling one another as they seemed to slide and morph from one form to the next, and in their shifting pattern could be seen two great koi fish that seemed to circle each other endlessly. Unlike the other Great Spirits, Tui and La had crossed to the mortal plane ages ago and thus were only present in spirit while their bodies stayed in the Mortal World.

To Agni’s right sat Wuzhi, substantial and sure, personification of earth. Her shifting was somehow more solid than the other Great Spirits, more like the rising and falling of stones from and back to the earth, each with a manifestation carved into it – badgermole, bolder, mountain, and so on. She cycled through her forms endlessly, as did the others, though hers were the most orderly of the four seats.

As one, they all reached their primary Mortal World animal manifestation and stopped: Dragon, Sky Bison, Koi Fish, and Badgermole. As they did so, their elements in the meadow flared: the wind whipped through the meadow, bending the grasses and flowers almost flat; the stone pillars shifted in their beds but stayed upright, grinding and groaning as they did; the water rippled and lapped at the edges of the pool; and the central flame leapt skyward. Again as one, their elements returned to normal as the meeting began.

“Agni, Lord of Eternal Flame, why have you called us?” asked Tui and La, their voices melding into one - water, to answer fire, as was right.

“I have gazed long on the Mortal World and my children in it, and I have watched as the balance of the four elements has been broken at their hands,” Agni answered, his dragon brow furrowed in concern. “A poison has entered the hearts of my children, and if we do not act, it will soon break the world we have sworn to protect.”

Rangzen shifted in his seat, his eyes full of sorrow, but there was no enmity in his face when he met and held Agni’s gaze. The Great Spirits were ever in harmony, even as their children fought.

“What do you propose?” Rangzen asked, and in his voice was the cry of the wind and his children who were now gone.

“It is my children who have caused this, and your children who have suffered most. It is only right that a child of mine help your last child restore the balance,” Agni said.

“And yet all our children have suffered, including yours,” said Wuzhi.

“Indeed,” came the twin voices of Tui and La. “We all have suffered, and so we all must help heal the four nations and restore the balance.”

“The Avatar, my last child, will soon awaken,” Rangzen said. The others nodded.

“I must send one of my children to him, to right the wrongs my other children have wrought,” Agni said.

“We, too, must send our children, for it is right that we help. Our children are nearby and shall be first. Water, to balance and heal the burn of fire,” said Tui and La together.

“I, too, shall move my children to help,” rumbled Wuzhi. “Earth, to balance the last airbender, to keep him rooted so he does not drift away from his destiny.”

“Sozin’s line has caused this, so it must be that Sozin’s line help end it. There is one who is fit by fire, but his blood is troubled. Too much has passed and is yet to pass under his hand, though he may guide and protect and, when the time is right, rise to his destiny. There is another soon to be who is fitter still, by blood and by fire. He could help restore the balance,” said Agni.

“Then you must prepare him,” said Rangzen. “We entrust him to your care.”

“I will watch over him, for even now his mother labors to bring him forth. He will be ready,” said Agni.

“It is settled, then. We all will choose, and send help. We will guide, and our children shall find their destiny together. Fire and Water, Air and Earth, to restore balance to the world,” Tui and La said together.

“It is settled,” said Wuzhi.

“It is settled,” said Rangzen.

“It is settled,” said Agni, and as he spoke, the elements flared again. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, earth shook, and a sudden mist arose. When the elements settled and the mist lifted, the throne seats were empty, the elements silent.

And, in the royal palace of the Fire Nation in the Mortal World, a newborn child drew his first breath and cried.


	2. The Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set somewhere between City of Walls and Secrets and Lake Laogai. Uncle has not yet been given his own shop, but the party the Gaang tried and failed to crash has happened.

_Agni hates me,_ thought Zuko, not for the first time or the last, as he stood stone-faced while a customer chewed him out in the tea shop where he and his uncle had found work.

“Wuzhi’s claws, boy, are you deaf or just stupid? I said _jasmine_ tea, not chamomile. You know, jasmine, like the flower? It’s a good thing Mushi makes the best tea in The Lower Ring because the rest of the help is absolutely terrible!”

The man ranted on, waving his hands and scowling at Zuko. Zuko scowled back and vowed to wait the man out. He sorely wanted to respond in kind – _the idiot_ did _order chamomile; he’s just too drunk on that flask of sake he thought I didn’t see or smell to remember, and chamomile is a flower, too, idiot_ – but Zuko knew it would do no good. This type would never be happy, no matter what. All Zuko could do was weather the storm and move on; bitter experience had taught him that anything else would only make things worse.

 _Story of my life_ , he thought as the man’s spittle flew by and his hand barely missed slapping Zuko in the shoulder while his complaints reached their angry crescendo.

He saw motion from the corner of his good eye as his uncle suddenly appeared, a pot of jasmine tea and a fresh cup in his hand. With the ease of both practice and an unflappable spirit, Iroh quickly had the irate noble calmed down and sipping his tea. As his uncle turned to walk back to the kitchen, Zuko saw him wink and smile. As soon as he had appeared, he was gone again.

Zuko turned away from the eternally unpleasable customer to bus the next table, his scowl as deep as ever. _As bad as things could be in the Caldera, at least I never had to scurry around like a servant there. Agni’s beard, but things just keep getting worse. I wonder what I did to offend the Great Spirit, and how can I fix it?_

~W*~E*~F*~A*~

“Tui’s tail, Aang, stop playing with Momo and _focus_!”

Katara’s voice cut through the late afternoon air in the guest home courtyard of the Upper Ring like one of her water whips. Aang spun guiltily as Momo flew away, one last remnant of the lychee berries the young avatar had been tossing him still in his mouth. Normally the master waterbender did not raise her voice to her pupil, but this was the third time in less than ten minutes that Aang had been distracted from their waterbending lesson.

“Sorry, Sifu Katara!” Aang apologized, bowing before he resumed a waterbending stance.

Katara glanced towards the lowering sun in the western sky before shifting out of her bending stance and let the water she had gathered return to the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Her expression softened just as her stomach began to rumble. Aang mirrored her movements right down to the hunger noises, and the fountain splashed just a bit as the water was returned.

Katara sighed and waved her hand, both accepting and giving apology.

“I think that’s enough practice for today, anyway. Let’s go find something to eat. Perhaps Toph will want to drill you after dinner.”

Aang’s face brightened at the thought of food as he followed Katara into the elaborate guest house. Katara was both grateful and annoyed that she no longer had to cook for the group; all their culinary needs were being met by the spooky Joo Dee – lost, replaced, and found again, creepier than before – who made sure to have food delivered three times a day. _Lots_ of food, more than their little group was used to eating. It was nice, but it also left Katara with even more time on her hands somehow fill as the group searched for a way to locate Appa and see the Earth King after their failure at the party at the hands of Long Feng and the Dai Li.

Katara liked being useful, even if she grated at times under the frustrating gender roles the group tended to fall into. She would not have minded so much if one of the guys would just help her without her asking. It wasn’t the work itself; it was the attitudes and assumptions of those around her she chafed under. She felt like she nagged too much, but she only did it because otherwise she would be stuck doing all the work that didn’t involve hunting or fixing weapons.

_At least I finally convinced Master Pakku to train me._

Katara shook off her meandering thoughts as the delicious smell of food hit her nostrils. Aang rushed to the low table that practically groaned under the weight of the dinner piled high over its entire surface. Soon everyone was gathered around, filling plates and talking, and Katara took a moment to drink in the sight of her friends and family enjoying a meal together.

_We may be in the middle of a war, tasked with saving the world, but at least we have each other. I’d do anything to keep them safe. Anything._

~W*~E*~F*~A*~

_Fire._

_Fire above him, below him, around him. Everywhere he turned, there were flames, bright and hot._

_The fire roared, and rose, and came closer, too close. He tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go. The heat was pulling the very air from his lungs. He couldn’t breathe._

_Suddenly, a figure in the flames, a great dragon. It inhaled, and the flames lessened as though it were eating them. It inhaled again, and the pressure eased even more._

_The dragon stared at him, its gaze penetrating deep, deep, deep… he could get lost in that gaze, in the life and color and flame he saw in them._

_Ancient, knowing eyes. Powerful eyes._

_He felt himself kneeling, bowing. Yes, it was right to bow, a full kowtow. How could he do anything less?_

_“You must tell him of his ancestors, of his destiny. You must tell him soon, before the sun circles seven times. It is his right to know, so that he may choose well.”_

_“Yes, Lord Agni. I hear and obey.” His voice felt pulled from him. He did not know how he knew the dragon’s name, but he did. Who else had eyes full of majesty like that?_

_The fire roared, but it did not burn him. It cradled him, like a mother with her child, and he felt comforted. He lifted his head._

_He was alone with the flames._

Iroh awoke with a start, sweat pouring off his face, and gasped in cooling breaths in the darkness. He rolled out of bed, hands trembling slightly, and made his quiet way over to where his nephew slept on his bed in the small apartment.

He stared down at Zuko in the darkness, the faint ambient lights of the city and the waxing moon giving just enough illumination to see his outline in the dark. Iroh watched as Zuko’s chest rose and fell with his breathing, and the sight reassured him.

It had been a stressful few days, though Iroh did not show it outwardly. The sight of his nephew fighting with that strange young man from the ferry who kept shouting that they were firebenders – _and how did he_ know _that?_ – had made him tense. It was not enough to explain the dream, though.

It had felt so real.

Iroh moved over to the counter where his teapot sat, already prepped for morning so all he would have to do was light it to get his first bracing cup of the day. He changed out the breakfast blend for something more soothing and lit the wood with the spark rocks. It may be too late to completely hide who he was, but he was not foolish enough to make the same mistake twice.

 _Hmm, the same mistakes… seems I have been foolish after all. I tried to fulfill my destiny in ignorance of my family’s true history and sins, and now I expect Zuko to do the same. Maybe that really_ was _Lord Agni in my dream. The Great Spirits are not to be trifled with, after all. I should obey his command, just to be safe. But how to tell Zuko the truth?_

Iroh sipped his tea, though he did not remember pouring it, so lost was he in his thoughts. Behind him, he heard his nephew shift in his sleep, murmuring under his breath, words too quiet to be heard. Iroh sighed.

_Seven days. I have seven days to figure this out, and then… then Zuko will know._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Great Spirits are meddling. I wonder where this will lead?

**Author's Note:**

> I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference. ~~ Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken


End file.
